A Shade of Pink
by L.MacQ
Summary: A woman shows up where she doesn't belong and with her past with the team, it can only mean bad news. Eames/OC. Oneshot inspired by aeolytheis' Dreaming of You vid.


**Inspired by:** youtube .com/watch?v=xzduJsz5J _E&feature= autoplay&list= QL&index=1&playnext=43

(No spaces)

A tweak of her lips let him know she knew he was there. She didn't look up from her drink. Just continued to stir it idly as he approached her. He leaned against the bar, gazing out at the sea of people around them.

"Well." Lily smirked. "Isn't this a pleasant surprise."

"What're you doin' here, Lil?"

She shrugged, her features shifting into a more serious mask. "Just…hanging about." She quirked a fine brow at him. "Is that such a crime?"

"You can't be here now." He ordered, not looking at her. But she could see his blue eyes sharpen as he glared out at the passerby. "I'm working."

"On what?" Lily asked, pulling the olive out of her drink and offering it to him. He took it from her without looking.

"You know I can't tell you that."

Her green eyes rolled. "I make one little mistake…"

"That little mistake almost cost me my life, Lily." He growled, turning on her. The woman was far from intimidated. She pouted mockingly at him. "That little mistake sent Cobb and Mal-"

"To limbo. Never to return again…yes, yes, spare me the speech, Eames."

He scoffed at her. A scowl on his face as he told her, "You disgust me."

"You place yourself on too high a horse, Eamesy." She slapped his cheek lightly. Malice made its way into her stare as she told him, "Like you've never done a freelance job before." She moved closer to him. He turned away from her, but didn't stop listening, "You taught me everything there is to know about the conscious world's seedy underbelly, Eames." Her lips brushed his ear as she grabbed her purse. "Don't you ever forget that."

With that she disappeared into the crowd. Leaving him to stare after her bright pink wig and lithe figure with a cold pit in his stomach. The man turned his gaze from her and set out on the Mark, shifting into something he knew would be pleasing to the older gentleman; a stripper.

Meanwhile, Lily halted a young woman at the door. She smiled knowingly down at the young brunette, who looked up at her with distrust. "Well. You're new…who might you be then?"

"Ex-excuse me?"

"Your name, darling." Tan fingers weaved through her hair, making the girl shiver. "What is it? Something lovely, I bet."

Ariadne faltered a moment. "I- I have to go."

Lily stepped in front of her, effectively blocking her way. "No you don't. We've only just begun talking. Aren't you as…interested, as I am to find out what's going on?"

"You- I mean, I-"

"Ariadne!"

Both women looked over to find a man, perhaps in his late twenties storming over to them. Lily stole a kiss from the woman, earning a gasp. "I'll see you later, darling." She winked, "Give Arthur my love."

Darting out of the room and onto the balcony, she vanished into the night. Ariadne was still blushing when Arthur finally reached her. He quickly took hold of her elbow and began to pull her away. "Come on."

"Who was that? She- I mean-"

He pulled her through the large gathering to where Eames was sitting in the Mark's lap. "We have to get out of here."

"Who is she?"

Arthur hesitated, "Now really isn't the time-"

"She kissed me! I think I have a right to know who assaulted me!"

"It was Lily."

"Who or _what_ is Lily?" Ariadne demanded, wrenching her arm from his grasp.

"She's… a freelancer. She's here to compromise the mission." He nodded toward the balcony, "We've got to warn Cobb."

"Why?"

"Because if he finds out on his own, well, to put it mildly, we're screwed."

Ariadne's brow furrowed as she noticed a flash of pink to her left. "Arthur." They both froze as they noticed Lily wandering over to where Cobb was seated.

The blonde man looked up when he noticed someone standing in front of him. He followed the trail of a woman's bare legs to a rather short skirt and up to a set of purple knickers before landing on an all too familiar face. His jaw set as she slipped into the booth next to him.

"Hello." She said pleasantly, although the smile on her lips was far from it. As was the predatory gleam in her eye as she asked, "How's the family?"

"Lily." Cobb grit his teeth, barely able to speak without snapping. "What're you doing here?"

"My job." The woman replied, pulling the wig off and setting it in front of her. She shook her dark hair out of its hold as she leaned back against the booth's plush seats. As she did, her foot came up to brush his thigh. "Same as you, love."

"I am not your _love_." He spat, pushing her foot down. "You can't be here. You're supposed to be in Denmark."

"Supposed to, being the keys words in that sentence." She held up a finger and moved to take his drink. "And to be fair, aren't you supposed to be at home with the children? They only just got their daddy back and you're off-"

"Lily."

"Gallivanting around some millionaires head and for what?"

His blue eyes narrowed at her. "Get out of here before you do something you regret."

"Like what?" She asked, innocently. "You're going to do it for me, doll."

With that she stood from the table and over to where Eames (clad in little to no clothing and sporting two rather large breasts) and the Mark were sitting. She cast Dom a look before pulling a gun out of her purse. She spun it around her finger casually before cocking it. Neither of the men seemed to notice. Eames too focused on his work and the Mark too focused on, well, Eames.

Lily could see Arthur getting ready to charge at her and paused. This could be interesting. She smirked and clicked the safety back into place as she saddled up next to where her former lover was putting the moves on a business man. Eames spotted her over the man's shoulder, but paid her no mind. Instead, he put more effort into holding the Mark's attention. Lily, on the other hand, quietly slipped her hand into the man's pocket and pulled out his wallet. She pulled out a small card and her smirk widened as she dropped the leather pocket back on the bar behind her. Biting down on the slip of paper, she turned her eyes back to Arthur who was now only a few feet away. He froze when they locked eyes and she pulled the revolver out of her purse again.

"Lily…don't."

"Don't what?" She tilted her head and pressed the revolver lightly to the man's back. He didn't even notice, too enrapt with Eames who was still flirting away. "It's my job."

"Lily, please-"

The shot went off. Eames looked up. Lily was gone and the Mark was bleeding all over the floor.

Seconds later, the team woke. Cobb ripped the needle out of his arm and stormed away from the group.

"What the hell was that?" Ariadne asked, wincing away from the bright lights above her.

"Yeah, Eames," Arthur rounded on the man, who hadn't so much as moved from his seat. His blue eyes stayed locked on the ceiling as the Point Man spat, "What happened?"

Silently, the Brit pulled the needle from his arm and stood. He left the warehouse, leaving his jacket and not particularly caring as the cold hit him. Eames swallowed. Why did she have to come back?

"You have to stop this." Eames stiffened at the younger man's voice. "You have to stop talking to her, stop communicating with her."

"I'll do no such thing."

"You can't trust her! Every time you tell her anything she uses it against you, Eames, it's dangerous!"

"I know! She won't betray me, Arthur, I know her." He dropped his eyes and brushed past him. "Just leave it alone."

"_Won't betray you?"_ Arthur spat, "Have you forgotten everything she's-"

"No I haven't!" Eames snarled. "You have no idea how hard it was for me to let her go the first time and now-"

"Now what? What's so damn different now that you can't just walk away like you did after she trapped Cobb and Mal in Limbo, huh?" The young man scoffed at him, "Damn it, Eames, it's not like she's ever been anything but a thorn in our side."

He was quiet a moment. His gaze never left the ground as Arthur betratted him for being such an idiot. He licked his lips and nodded. "Fine. No more Lily."

"Eames, you have to promise."

He looked up at the man's dark eyes and nodded. "I promise. No more Lily." Bowing his head he cleared his throat. "I have to go. It's late."

Satisfied, Arthur nodded and watched as the man retreated to his car. Turning back, to the warehouse, he caught sight of Cobb pacing outside the door. A cell phone pressed tight to his ear as he hissed into it. With a low growl, Dom slammed it shut and tossed it Arthur's way. "That should not have happened! What the hell was she even doing here? She's supposed to be in Denmark!"

"I'll look into it." Arthur assured him. "Why don't you go home? Check on the kids."

The blond nodded hastily and let out a sigh as he rubbed his eyes. "I just…I can't believe she's back."

"I know."

"I thought she'd never show her face again after what she did to us." A hurt look crossed his eyes a moment. "Me and Mal…that was one thing, but Eames…jesus, he was ready to marry that girl."

Arthur nodded, remembering how close they had been before the betrayal. "I know," He repeated. "I can't really believe it myself." Dom muttered something under his breathe, earning a quirk of an eyebrow from the younger man. "Pardon?"

"No honour among thieves." He repeated. "It was the last thing she said to me before she sent me to…you know."

Arthur nodded again. "I'll look into it. See why she's back."

Meanwhile, Eames was hooking himself up to a PASIV machine. The hotel room was dark and he was doing everything from memory. This had been the hotel where he had trained her. Trained her to be everything he had wanted her to be. A thief, a forger, a whore. His whore. His precious little pet project that he worked on, teaching her to be the perfect student. He pushed the needle in to the back of his hand without so much as a wince as his eyes set on the piece of paper in front of him. Not tearing his eyes from it, he hit the button and was forced into a deep sleep.

Arthur, on the other hand, would not be getting any sleep. He stared down at the phone in front of him. The information he had received couldn't have possibly been correct. There had to be some mistake. He rubbed his eyes and let out a sigh.

The next morning, Cobb was waiting rather impatiently for the young man to speak. Arthur couldn't bring himself to look at him as he cleared his throat. "I'm waiting."

"She's dead."

"What?" Dom blinked at him.

"She's dead." Arthur repeated, sniffing. He looked over at his friend, "Has been for the past week."

Cobb shook his head, "That can't be right."

"It is." They looked over at the man in the doorway. Eames bit his lip before sighing. "I got the message a few days ago…I didn't think… I thought I was over it, I should've said something."

Dom looked away from him. "What happened?"

His Forger laughed bitterly, "Got caught doing what she does best. Fucking people over."

"Eames, I'm…" He didn't want to say he was sorry because he wasn't. He hated Lily. He'd ruined his fucking life. But he knew the Brit loved her. Still loved her, apparently.

"Don't say it," Eames smiled humorlessly at him, "We both know you're not."

Arthur piped up, "I am. Lily was…"

"A bad person." He said coldly. "And now she's dead."

"She wasn't all bad." Arthur argued, knowing he wasn't helping but unable to stop himself. "She could be really sweet when she wanted to be."

"She was a bloody traitor, and you know it." Eames snapped. He pushed the tears that were welling up in his eyes down. "And I'm done talkin' 'bout her! Much like she was some kind'a saint. I know what she was, Arthur. You don't need to patronize me."

The younger man shook his head and stood. "Eames."

"She should've just stayed in Iowa." He whispered, shaking his head, "Everything would've been fine if I hadn't-"

"Eames." Cobb snapped, tearing the man from his thoughts. "It's not your fault."

"Yes it is. I taught her everything she knew."

"You didn't tell her how to use it," Arthur said quietly. Comfort wasn't his area of expertise. "You have to let her go, Eames. She's…she's just a shade."

He nodded and ran a hand through his short hair. "I know."

Dom said nothing, just left the pair alone. It was…this was all too close to him. He'd only been rid of Mal a few months, he couldn't….he couldn't get involved in this.

"You know I had some…suspicions, in the dream." Arthur confessed, smiling idly as he leaned against a desk. "That she was a projection."

Eames looked over at him curiously, wiping his eyes with rough fingers. "Oh?"

"Yeah. If it had been the real Lily, she would've played with you a bit more."

"What?" A chuckle escaped his throat before he could stop it. Tears kept running down his cheeks, but neither commented on it. "What do you mean?"

"You remember the first job we did together?"

A nod.

"We were suppose to just hang back and watch. Well, she got bored, and thought up that ridiculous pink wig." Arthur felt a few tears slip down his own eyes. "And she kept wearing it everywhere after that. Flirting with the Marks, with you, hell even random projections."

"She always was quite the little slut."

"She loved you though."

Eames shook his head. "No. No, Arthur, she didn't." He sighed and dropped into a lawn chair. "Lily and I…we weren't the conventional sort. I was foolish to think…" He dropped his head into his hands. "I should've just left her in Iowa."

Arthur said nothing, just slipped his hand over his friend's shoulder as the man began to sob.

**A/N:** Okay, I had this idea for a little while but after aeolytheis made a video for me on youtube with a similar plot, I could not control myself. The link to the vid is at the top. Just remove the spaces. It's a great vid, and it deserves credit! She makes great Eames/Arthur vids. Fantastic ones even. Why does that fandom not have a name? Seriously. Also, if you are interested in more of this couple(Eames/Lily) review, and maybe I'll do a prequel.


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